Next Year Never Comes
by Clio195
Summary: Sally Jackson watches her son. Is this the year she gives him up? One-shot. Please review!


**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Really and truly.**

**A/N: Ok, I haven't written any stories in a really long time, at least not that I've published. But this one has been in my mind for a while and it finally made it's way onto my laptop. :) I'm also working on a few others. Hope you like this, and please review. Constructive criticism is appreciated, flames are not.**

Sally Jackson watches her son through tired blue eyes. He is playing happily in the water. Most people would look down on her for leaving her 4 year old son playing in the ocean alone. But Sally knows that Percy will be fine.

He loves the water, and he has ever since he was eighteen months when he would sit at the edge of the surf and splash around contentedly. When Sally saw how much he enjoyed himself at Montauk, she started taking him every year, the week of his birthday. At the age of two, Percy would plunge into the water, sometimes staying under for minutes at a time. On Percy's third birthday, he had literally swam with the fishes. Sally could see him amidst a school of tarpons. He was smiling so brightly, you would think he didn't even notice the penetrating cold of the ocean that kept other beachgoers away that day.

This year, two days before his 5th birthday, Sally wonders if maybe this is the year. Maybe this year is the year she should give up her little boy, maybe forever.

Sally realizes with a start that Percy is not in the water anymore. She looks around wildly, her heart beating faster than it was only moments ago. Then, with a sigh of relief, she spots him. He is talking to the only other occupant of the beach: a fisherman sitting on a dock, his line in the water. The fisherman pats the bucket sitting next to him. Percy looks inside. His face scrunches up as he takes in the fish, gasping and about to die, flopping around at the bottom of the bucket.

_Oh dear_, Sally thought, _not again._

Percy had recently taken to saving every sea creature he saw. A few days earlier, a group of kids had found a jellyfish floating around in the sea. They had caught it with a net and were excitedly examining it-out of water, that is- when Percy marched over to them and pushed the leader of the kids, who stumbled and fell back into the water. At this point, Percy had grabbed the net in which the jellyfish lay and gently lowered it into the ocean, setting it free. Sally had spent ten minutes apologizing to the mother of the boy Percy had pushed, but Percy himself stubbornly refused to say he was sorry. All he would say was, "He was hurting the jellyfish. He deserved it."

Now, Sally looks on as Percy kicks over the bucket. The fish inside wriggles to the edge of the dock before returning to the ocean. She rises from her seat resolutely and walks toward the fisherman and Percy, ready to apologize to the man. But when she arrives, the fisherman is laughing and tousling Percy's hair.

"This is your boy?" he asks.

"Yes, and I'm very sorry about that. He's suddenly decided it's his job to protect every thing that's ever come from the ocean," Sally tells him.

"Oh, that's alright. I was the same way when I was his age. Nearly drove my dad mad. He was a fisherman, too, you see. Eventually stopped taking me along when he went on fishing trips."

Sally laughs politely. "Well, thank you very much for your understanding. I promise it won't happen again. Right, Percy?"

The little boy seems relieved that he's not in trouble. He chirps, "Right. It won't happen again."

Yeah, right.

For the time, fishermen are safe. Percy is back in the water. Sally resolves to watch him more closely.

One time, Percy looks up and sees his mom. He smiles and waves. She waves back.

She thinks, _Not this year. Next year. I'll take him to camp next year. When he's six, then I'll bring him. _

He's too young for monsters and all that responsibility. He's just a little boy. Eventually, she will take him, Sally decides. To keep him safe, she'll have to take him. But until then, she can keep him safe herself.

* * *

**A/N: There. The part with the fisherman is based on reality. I used to do that all the time when I was little. Even now, when I go fishing, I throw back everything I catch. Let me know what you think; please review! **

* * *


End file.
